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Jeremy Corbyn has hit back at Newcastle after the club responded to his comments criticising Mike Ashley, and Magpies fans are loving his stance.

The Labour leader spoke about protecting football clubs as they are “an institution at the heart of communities”, and targeted Ashley as an example of a billionaire owner who was “ruining our national game”.

Newcastle have defended themselves, pointing to their strong financial record and sustainable method of running the club, stating that other clubs are more guilty of improper practice.

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However, Corbyn took to Twitter to thank the club for sharing his quotes about Ashley ruining football, and many of the Newcastle faithful are pleased with the development.

Some are happy to see the 70-year-old show support to a fanbase which has opposed their owner for years, whilst one fan is happy that his message has helped to shine a spotlight on what some Magpies feel is insufficient ownership.

Here is some of the reaction from Newcastle fans, with many backing what Corbyn has said.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Arsenal legend Martin Keown has suggested that Mesut Ozil needs to work harder to regain his place in Unai Emery’s starting line-up.

What’s the word?

The manager’s working relationship with Mesut Ozil is one of the worst kept secrets in football and the Spanish manager has opted to keep the former Germany international away from any form of playing time.

Emery decided not to play Ozil against Manchester United despite the former Real Madrid player revealing that he had a “really good relationship” with the manager.

And Keown believes that Ozil needs to find a balance between his undoubted skill and his willingness to work hard to break back into the first team.

Speaking to Goal, he said: “I think it’s disappointing that someone with that amount of talent can’t find his way into an Arsenal team.”

“And again, that’s about balance. That’s about a player wanting to graft and show the other side of his game. Until he does that, he won’t be in this new Arsenal team.”

The end of the road

With Ozil having only played two matches this season, it looks very unlikely that the former Germany international will feature under Emery and his Arsenal side.

The arrival of Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid on loan and the emergence of Matteo Guendouzi as a first-team regular has pushed Ozil down the pecking order at the Emirates.

Despite this, his contributions over the years for Arsenal cannot be ignored. The Gelsenkirchen-born midfielder has scored 43 goals in 233 appearances for the Gunners since his move from Real Madrid in 2013 and was the fastest player in Premier League history to conjure up 50 assists after just 141 outings.

However, with the likes of Reiss Nelson and Lucas Torreira having played more games than Ozil this season, it looks to be the end of the road for the Arsenal midfielder as he looks to be sidelined due to selection reasons.

He doesn’t appear to have the hunger to continue but despite coming to a halt at Arsenal, the same doesn’t have to go for his career. His talent is something that many clubs would love to have in their inventory and he may well need to move on to flourish once again.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Tammy Abraham has revealed that Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is one of the hardest opponents he has played against, admitting he struggled against the 28-year-old.

What did he say?

The Chelsea youngster is inexperienced at the top-level, and as a result he hasn’t often come up against defenders of the highest quality like van Dijk, who was named the UEFA Men’s European Player of the Year recently.

Despite his youth, Abraham has been in top form this season with eight goals in eight league games, thus proving that he has been a handful for most Premier League centre-backs.

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He has now played against the Netherlands captain twice this campaign, and on both occasions got no joy against him, having failed to find the target in the Super Cup and in the league.

As a result, he knows all too well what it is like to play against the defender, and described his experience, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo:

“He’s a beast. He’s just good at what he does. He’s experienced. I try to do a little… I try to use my tricks in my head but his understanding of the game is top drawer.

“It is to do with little things. Movement. My movement in the box, some defenders don’t pay attention to me – they are only focused on the ball.

“With him, it’s kind of both, he’s paying attention to me and the ball, knows where I am, knows where I want to go, follows me.”

At the top of his game

Van Dijk’s exceptional defensive attributes are no secret, but the fact he has kept one of the league’s most in-form strikers quiet with apparent ease shows the level he’s at.

Abraham’s words show an almost defeatist attitude, and indicate that half the battle for strikers is the struggle to believe that they can get the better of the Liverpool man – that is how good he is.

His stats show he is great at reading play, with an average of 1.4 interceptions per game, whilst being equally adept with the ball at his feet, with 87% pass accuracy.

To make matters worse for strikers, he is often thinking one step ahead, and often doesn’t need to exert himself in order to prevent danger – the manner in which he closed down Son Heung-min’s run in the second half of the Champions League final a great example of that, and that occurred on the highest stage.

His commanding presence is a nightmare for opponents but equally it must be a great source of reassurance for his teammates, so it is not surprising that Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren have also improved of late.

Oleksandr Zinchenko’s reactions after Ukraine games have been making headlines for some time now.Watch Manchester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The Man City man caused a bit of controversy earlier this year when he kissed a reporter after an international match, although it was later reported that the pair are in fact dating.

Now, his crazy and quite hilarious actions after his country confirmed their qualification for Euro 2020 have gone viral, getting over 3.5million views on Twitter.

The 23-year-old reacted like a mad man after Ukraine booked their place at next summer’s tournament, and understandably, he caught some flack on social media from one of his teammates.

Kyle Walker completely mugged off the left-back with a classic dig, as he stated that his behaviour was due to his inexperience with alcohol.

We can’t be sure whether or not Zinchenko’s antics are down to what he’s been drinking, but his reaction and more so his dance moves would make an awful lot more sense if they were all thanks to some special Ukrainian beverage.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

At times this season Ivan Sunjic has been a pillar of solidity in Birmingham’s midfield.

He’s been a combative force that’s rather helped Pep Clotet settle into life at St Andrew’s.

The Spaniard has had a topsy-turvy campaign in charge of Blues so far, but whichever way you look at it, it might become even tougher on Tuesday night.

They came away from their encounter against Leeds with one major negative – the fact that Sunjic won’t be able to play in midweek.

On the chalkboard

Sunjic picked up a yellow card for a rather rough challenge on Gjanni Alioski on Saturday and consequently picked up a suspension for an accumulation of five cautions.

The Croatian has never been one to shy away from the challenge and that was evident in the 2.3 tackles per game he’d made before their trip to Elland Road, via WhoScored.

But they’ll have to make do without him for their next clash, something that will present a major dilemma to Clotet.

Birmingham have a vast array of options in the middle of the pitch so whether they do actually miss him remains to be seen.

Jude Bellingham has burst onto the scene in midfield this term with two goals while another teenager in Odin Bailey is also an option at the manager’s disposal.

Who he chooses to go with is sure to spark debate and he could well be scratching his head in the lead up to kick-off.

Josh McEachran has yet to play since being signed following a trial period, but other choices lie in Gary Gardner and David Davis.

The latter would likely be the more natural replacement considering the number of tackles he makes.

A substitute at Elland Road this weekend, he made eight successful challenges across matches against Bristol City and Nottingham Forest earlier in the season.

However, Clotet may prefer more creativity, especially playing against a side not as highly placed in the table as Leeds.

Bellingham is likely to play but fielding the more attack-minded Bailey beside him could be a gamble given their age. McEachran is also short on match fitness so that’s another risk facing Clotet.

Only one man can replace Sunjic in the side but it’s a decision that Birmingham’s Spanish head coach might have to mull over for a while.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Roberto Martinez has never seen a playmaker like Kevin De Bruyne and praised the Manchester City man for his unique ability in midfield.

What did he say?

De Bruyne was incredible in Germany with Wolfsburg, winning the Player of the Year in the Bundesliga in 2015. This form earned him a move to City, where the 28-year-old has blossomed into one of the finest talents in world football.

Martinez, who coaches De Bruyne with the Belgium national team, has seen first hand what outrageous ability he has. The former Everton manager told Sky Sports (as quoted by Manchester Evening News): “It’s difficult to give a proper description of his talent.

“I’ve never worked with a playmaker that can work at a faster pace than the game. Any playmaker we’re used to seeing a player that slows the tempo down and gets two seconds to think, two seconds to find that pass.

“Kevin De Bruyne sees the pass even before any spectators see it. That is a dynamic playmaking that he has. There’s not another player in world football in front of him that has that precision and execution – every ball in the box is exactly the same level of precision. City’s moves are never into feet, they are always into space, they know where the ball is going to go. I feel Kevin with his intensity is a unique playmaker.

“He doesn’t work in systems, he works in space and he’s got that ability to turn in any space and execute a pass. technically he’s so gifted. Normally you get gifted players technically but it doesn’t go along with that physicality and intensity. I’ve never seen a player that can execute passes in transitions on any counter-attack like, his precision is immaculate. The uniqueness is to have that physicality and the technical ability.”

The best around

De Bruyne has been an essential ingredient to Manchester City’s dominance of English football over the past three years. Since signing for £55m in 2015, the Belgian has won six major trophies with the club and earned his way into the PFA Team of the Year in 2017-18.

Just recently, De Bruyne set the record to become the fastest man in Premier League history to register 50 assists. In doing this, he surpassed creative genius Mesut Ozil and as a result, established himself as a true great of the English game.

He may have only played 19 league games last year because of injury, but his presence was definitely felt as Liverpool ran with City right until the final whistle last season.

Should Pep Guardiola have had De Bruyne – who is valued at £117m by Transfermarkt – fully fit and available for the entirety of the previous season, perhaps they would have gone head-to-head with the Reds in the Champions League final.

However, this season, the playmaker is back and showing the world he is one of the best around.

The summer transfer window is now long behind us and Barcelona, just like many other top clubs in Europe, were rather busy incorporating new people and shipping off the unwanted faces.

But even though there was a lot of movement in the squad, it seems that the Catalans are not done spending just yet.

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At least, that’s what the new report coming from Mundo Deportivo is suggesting.

The Catalan outlet states that Barcelona are scouting both Rodrigo Caio and Everton Soares and could be looking to incorporate them in the not so distant future.

Of course, the winter transfer window is rapidly approaching and the teams are already setting their targets in advance.

But if their recent activity on social media and Twitter is any indication, many Barcelona fans are not really delighted with their club scouting the aforementioned duo.

They seem to think a new coach is more important than getting new players while some other have also bashed the targets altogether.

Check out some of their comments down in the collection of tweets below:

Many Liverpool players impressed in the League Cup victory over Arsenal but the impact of Curtis Jones has won him plaudits from several fans.

The youngster started in the previous round against MK Dons and was named man of the match, but on this occasion he had to wait until the 54th minute to display what he was capable of.

However, he wasted little time in showing his influence and finished the match with two key passes and two dribbles – bettering that of the senior player he replaced, Naby Keita – so Liverpool supporters believe he has a bright future ahead of him.

He topped off a successful night by scoring the winning penalty in the shootout in front of the Kop, too, and that could guarantee him more game time with a quarter-final tie against Aston Villa up next.

One fan described the winning penalty as his favourite moment of the season, but if Jones continues to impress it is possible he could provide more over the course of this campaign, or in the years to come.

Here are some of the reactions from fans who are excited about the future of Jones and the player he is already.

Leeds United fans on Twitter can’t quite understand the latest reports surrounding QSI’s potential investment into their club.

The Qataris apparently value the Yorkshire outfit at between €60-€80m (£51.6-£68.8m), but that valuation simply doesn’t add up in the eyes of some Leeds fans.

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They’re right to be sceptical of this as well. That fee doesn’t even cover the value of the squad according to Transfermarkt, and that’s without considering the value of the stadium or the training ground alongside that.

One supporter claimed that Kalvin Phillips is worth £30m on his own, and that isn’t even hyperbole as that is apparently what United were asking for him in the summer.

You have to say that the PSG owners are a little bit out in their valuation of the Whites.

It remains to be seen whether or not QSI do actually invest in the west Yorkshire club, but if they do they may have to cough up more than they’re expecting.

Here’s what the Elland Road faithful have been saying on Twitter…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

You’d think that the numbers would be a little closer, but that’s not really the case.

Having started off the season on the bench, Yuri Ribeiro has found himself in and out of the side in recent weeks, battling it out with Jack Robinson to nail down that starting left-back spot.

It’s something that seems to be developing among the rest of the Nottingham Forest side, as Sabri Lamouchi hasn’t named an unchanged eleven in the league since the opening two games of the season against West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United.

In light of Garry Birtles’ comments that the team against Luton Town needs to be unchanged, it’s worth looking at whether or not Ribeiro is actually the best choice going forward for the club. And whilst Lamouchi might pick him for this weekend’s game against Derby County, when the squad returns from the international break, who should be the team’s starting left-back?

Find out what happened when a world-record-holding freestyler attempting skills with the worst pair of boots available on eBay in the video below…

On the chalkboard

If you take a look at the raw data (all stats provided by WhoScored) you start to wonder how Ribeiro even made it this far into the season.

Let’s look at their defensive numbers first, where Ribeiro is currently averaging 0.8 tackles per game, compared to Robinson’s 2.5.

He’s also lagging behind him in terms of aerial duels won, 1.3 compared to 2. It’s not even like you can make the argument that he ‘brings more to the attacking game’, because Robinson has him beat there as well, with a pass completion rate of just 70.1% compared to 77.5%. and 31.2 passes completed per game as opposed to 34.4.

So either there is something that’s intangible that Lamouchi sees in Ribeiro that is forcing him to pick him on a semi-regular basis, or he just simply doesn’t trust Robinson to be the left-back of the future.

With that in mind, he could simply be easing the Portuguese defender in slowly rather than throwing him in at the deep end, but the numbers so far just don’t back that idea up.

So when Lamouchi is done with his chopping and changing to the starting line-up, hopefully, he realises who the better player is, because the numbers are staring at him right in the face.

Ribeiro is under threat.